


and you were there

by altkeys



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-18
Updated: 2012-05-18
Packaged: 2017-11-05 14:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/407522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altkeys/pseuds/altkeys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's no place like home; or why Clint Barton, mild-mannered office supply salesman, shouldn't read comics before bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and you were there

**Author's Note:**

> 12\. Waking From a Nightmare
> 
> Spoilers for the movie, so if you haven't seen it, don't go any further. 
> 
> Title from The Wizard of OZ-
> 
> Dorothy: But it wasn't a dream. It was a place. And you and you and you...and you were there.

Clint wakes with a jolt and immediately reaches over the other side of the bed. It's empty and cold and Clint panics for a second before he notices the light from the TV filtering under the door. He pads out into the living room but stops in the doorway when he catches sight of Phil, alive and whole and completely engrossed in an episode of Hoarders. He thinks he could probably stand there and just look at him forever, but Phil takes that moment to turn and spot him lurking.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

Clint shakes his head and wanders further into the room. "It's stupid. I just, I had a bad dream and I wanted to see you."

Phil smiles warmly and pats the spot on the couch next to him. Clint doesn't waste any time curling up next to him on the couch and placing his hand flat in the center of Phil's chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy."

"In sickness and in health remember? Seriously, you can tell me."

"Okay, to be fair it started out really cool. I was this highly-trained secret government assassin and I was on this superhero team that was trying to stop a crazy alien from attempting to take over the world."

"Maybe you shouldn't be allowed to watch Superman before falling asleep."

"But it gets better, all the people on my team were the guys from the office. Tony? He was a genius billionaire who fought inside a robot. And he was dating Pepper Potts."

"Stark from IT was dating the CEO? And you didn't know it was a dream?"

"You think that's weird? When Bruce got angry he turned into a giant green monster."

"Good to know those anger management classes are really starting to work."

"I know it sounds unbelievable now, but everything felt so real. It didn't seem strange at all that Steve was a medically-enhanced Super Soldier, or that Natasha was a bad-ass Russian spy, or even that Donald Blake was Thor, God of Thunder. It was like the best kind of comic book come to life."

"So what went wrong?"

"Well, there was this whole part where Blake's little brother mind-jacked me. And he stabbed you through the chest with a spear. That kind of ruined any fun I might've been having."

"Luke was the overlord wannabe? No, you're right, I can see it."

"Then I woke up and you weren't there and for a second I thought it might've been real after all." Clint can't stop his hand from gripping Phil's t-shirt, right over the place the wound would've been. Phil gently removes Clint's fingers and then, in one smooth motion, slides the shirt off and tosses it over the side of the couch.

"Look, no stab wounds. I promise." Clint's hand automatically comes up again and he trails his hand down the familiar planes of Phil's chest.

"Just try not to get stabbed in the future, okay?"

"I'm a paper-pusher at an office supply company. I don't think you have to worry too much."

"Phil."

"I will try very, very hard not to get stabbed Clint, cross my heart."

"Come to bed? I sleep better when you're there anyway."

Phil nods, yawns, and it's not long before they're settling down in bed, Clint draped over Phil's side. Phil leans down slightly and kisses the top of Clint's head.

"Sweet dreams."


End file.
